"The big concern is when does this end as researchers continue to pound at Spectre and Meltdown? Security researchers in my mind are giving cyber terrorists the time and the information they need to potentially exploit Spectre and Meltdown," said Bob Venero, CEO of Holbrook, N.Y.-based solution provider Future Tech.

The groundwork for a feud between the Xerox board of directors and activist investors was laid nine years ago, when the company sought to reach beyond its hardware roots and bought IT service provider Affiliate Computer Services.

Intel's investment in Syntiant comes as the Santa Clara, Calif.-based semiconductor giant faces growing competition from large companies and upstarts alike that are building chips specifically suited for AI applications.

Systems integrators are key to the ecosystem Intel is building because of the complexity in deploying AI solutions at scale within large enterprises, says Fiaz Mohamed, head of business development for Intel's AI products group.

"As Intel marks its 50th anniversary, we're well positioned to be the end-to-end platform provider for the new data world and a leader in the artificial intelligence and the autonomous revolution," said Intel CEO Brian Krzanich.

Fourteen of the 24 publicly held channel companies on our watch list saw the price of their stock increase in the first quarter of 2018 while 10 recorded stock price declines. Take a look at who were the winners and who were the losers.

Ingram Micro executive vice president and Americas group president Paul Bay says rather than focus on technology and its delivery, Ingram Micro today is all about the business outcome the channel needs to deliver.